Film Financier Jason Cloth Indicted in $100 Million Ponzi Scheme

Film producer Jason Cloth, who financed "Joker," "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" and dozens of other movies, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on wire fraud charges in connection with what prosecutors say was a $100 million Ponzi scheme.

The indictment against Cloth, 60, was unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Cloth was arrested the same day in Los Angeles, where he made his first court appearance, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois said.

The indictment alleges Cloth solicited money from investors, telling them the funds would be used for a film or a video game platform. Instead, prosecutors allege, he used the money for other projects, including a Canadian real estate development, and to pay off earlier investors.

According to the indictment, Cloth operated a Canada-based company called Creative Wealth Media Finance Corp., and starting in 2019 solicited money from several clients to invest in film and entertainment projects. He obtained more than $100 million from one investment adviser in Illinois, the adviser's clients and others, prosecutors say, and lied to the investors about the value of their holdings.

Cloth is charged with seven counts of wire fraud, each punishable by up to 20 years in prison. He is also being asked to forfeit more than $12 million. The FBI asked that anyone who believes they may have been a victim contact the agency's Chicago office by filling out an online form.

Court records do not show whether Cloth has obtained an attorney in the criminal case. Several attorneys representing him in lawsuits in Florida and California did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It is not the first time the financier has faced allegations of financial misconduct. He has been named in several investor lawsuits in recent years, including a class-action suit in Chicago alleging film-funding fraud, a Florida suit from an investor who says Cloth's company breached contracts for several entertainment loans, and a New York suit that was later dismissed. Cloth has fought the claims in Chicago and Florida, and those cases are ongoing.

Last year the Ontario Securities Commission began an enforcement proceeding against Cloth and his company, with allegations similar to those in the Illinois indictment. The commission alleges Cloth and the company raised more than $500 million from investors for various film and television projects and then diverted $70 million to other uses, including repaying earlier investors. That case is also ongoing.